Hello Friends and Happy Sunday

I trust you all had a nice weekend and were able to relax or do something fun and exciting or both! I wasn’t able to clean out my closets but I did have a busy fun filled weekend which started with the honor of being chosen, “Top Blogger of the Week” by Sverve. I was in a fantastic mood as I headed out leaving my men doing yard work which wasn’t what my sons had planned for their weekend. While in town I stopped at my favorite lunch spot, The Java House Cafe where they were hosting a book signing by Christian author Richelle Rodgers. Her book, Forever Growing A Journey of Trust is a motivational book on empowerment and growing your relationship with God. Richelle is a retired Army Vet who remains very active in supporting other female vets and is currently working on a Women Veterans Leadership Awards Symposium to be held in DC this fall.

Today, The Java House Cafe hosted another book signing by author, Jacqueline Charmane, her 5th book, They Raped Me Once Over and Over Again, is a true story based on her life. She spoke briefly about some of the heart breaking events in her life including the emotional and physical abuse by both her rapist and husband as well as the the kidnapping of her son. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to speak with each author after the events, purchased an autographed copy of the books, and took pictures which I will post later this week.

Today, was a bright and sunny day, a little cool but I had just purchased this Printed Cold Shoulder Dress from Avon and wanted to wear it to church.

It reminds me of a 70’s retro dress with the slit sleeves, do you remember Julie from The Mod Squad?

This was such an honor and a great way to start the weekend!

Sverve connects female social media influencers and businesses for win-win partnerships. Finding and working with the right partner can lead to countless valuable collaborations. Their mission is to bring transparency to the industry, help talented content creators come out of the shadows and into the influencer spotlight, and make it easy and affordable for businesses to find and work with them.

The doors opened at 8:00 am, and after completing a registration form you received a reusable shopping bag courtesy of Shoprite. Attendees then entered the Riverfront Ballroom where over 30 exhibitors including the SBA, SCORE, PNC Bank, Wells Fargo, DEDO, Traci Lynn Jewelry and the YWCA had tables that showcased their products/services as well as items for sale or small giveaways.

On this cold and rainy morning the hot coffee and danish was a welcomed delight, but for each of the attendees all of various ages and ethnic backgrounds they delighted in a common goal; to obtain information and guidance to make their small business more successful. Small businesses are the engine that drives the economy in Delaware and if they are successful, we are all successful.

The conference was kicked off by Mary Caracciolli, The Money Confidant, who emphasized that the day wasn’t about networking but about meeting people, building relationships and doing something for someone else. Opening remarks were made by Lt. Governor Matt Denn, a major supporter of education in the state. Chase was the #1 sponsor of C.O.D.E. and Daryl Graham spoke about the importance of supporting small businesses. Ken Anderson, a DEDO rep stated that small businesses have created the most net new jobs in the state of Delaware. State Treasurer Chip Flowers was also in attendance and video remarks were given by Governor Jack Markell and U.S Senator Chris Coons.

Judy Travis, Founder of Stockings for Soldiers Delaware spoke of how passion drives your business and presented a slide show. Last year, over 10 thousand packages containing 47 thousand stockings were made and shipped thanks to the many volunteers who devoted their time. Volunteers in this effort included students from elementary schools to members of Senior Citizen centers, but donations and volunteers are always needed. One of the major rewards in volunteering for this program is knowing you are improving the morale of our troops serving overseas.

There were two sets of morning sessions from which to choose that began at 9:30 am: Business Start-up 101, and Run Your Business, Don’t Let It Run You. The next two sessions started at 11:00 am: The Business of Your Business and Service…Your Secret Weapon To Success!

I sat in briefly in all 4 sessions and found them to be very informative, enlightening and one was quite entertaining. Ellyn and Robert of SBA and SCORE started their session by having everyone stand and sing along to the song “Good night, I Gotta Feeling”, by The Black Eye Peas, it was a great way to rev up the brain cells.

A light lunch of pizza, and snacks were provided before the final General Session, “Understanding Social Media”, presented by Eric Holtzclaw, Founder and Chief Strategist of Laddering Works, LLC. Using a PowerPoint presentation Eric highlighted the various groups of social media users; discussed understanding social media and how it makes an impact on today’s business.

Audience participation with questions followed, several asking how social media impacts their small businesses and why it was important to brand themselves on the Internet. Social Media whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Google+, is here to stay however, the advice of only using what is comfortable was the underlying message from Eric.

The conference ended with the awarding of Door Prizes ranging from a $100 gift card to autographed copies of Eric’s new book, Laddering: Unlocking the Potential of Consumer Behavior. Overall, it was a great event for anyone with or who is thinking about starting a small business in the state of Delaware. Kudos to the staff of The Money School for all their hard work and effort that made this yet another successful event.

FREE butREGISTRATION REQUIRED!

toll-free 877.307.6858

CODE is a state-wide coalition organized in 2007 to support the Delaware small business community. Its mission is to guide the small business community and the public to resources, organizations and companies that can provide the information, skill development, knowledge and support needed for small business development.

Sverve is a new social media site designed to connect influential mom bloggers with major corporate brands and new readers. It’s like “LinkedIn for mom bloggers.” Sverve is set up a la Pinterest style that gives you access to other mom bloggers AND companies that are looking to hire bloggers.

If you’re like me, a mom blogger and active in social media here are 3 easy breezy steps to take that will gain you more influence and upgrade your status in the blogosphere:

Sign up for Sverve and connect your Facebook or Twitter account.
Look around and follow some of the other influential moms – like me
Share Sverve with your other mom friends.

You can also make $ with Sverve:

Add up to 5 areas of influence on your profile

Ask your followers to endorse you

Share frequently

Your Influence Score will be based on the real endorsements that you get as well as the type of content you create. Your score increases the more people like, favorite and share your tips, you will have to share a lot and connect with other mom bloggers for this to happen. As you get more endorsements your number starts to raise and the higher the number (and your spot on the leaderboard) the more likely you are to be hired if you meet the job requirements.

Sverve’s Mission

“We love sharing quality content and we love connecting people. That’s why we created SVERVE. Our mission is to change the way social media aficionados and bloggers are recognized. We want to bring transparency to the industry and help bring talented content creators out of the shadows and into the influencer spotlight where brands and marketers can find them.”